Can i feed me and a toddler for three weeks with £55?

[Fishwearwigs]

Im a regular poster and this is not a begging thread.

I have just done my sums for when i get paid on monday. After my bills are paid i have £55 to spend on food for me and a 14 month old for 3 weeks (18.33 a week)

Can this be done? Has anyone got meal ideas for me please? My toddler drinks 8 pints of milk a week and i drink 4 (in tea but i could give that up and just drink water) so there is a £4 of my £18 gone already. Im a good cook but just struggling for ideas. Ideally id like my toddler to carry on having fruit everyday as well. I have basic items in (pasta, frozen veg and frozen peas) but not much else.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Honestly? No. Not realistically.

You’ll get lots of posts on this thread telling you you can stretch a chicken for a month for a family of 4 etc etc but in reality, you’re not going to sustain you both on that

Get thee to CAB and get a referral to the food bank, I’m sorry this is happening

8 pints of milk per week?!

Is it 3 meals a day for both of you? I would struggle if so but would say it's possible. Bags of pasta, chopped tomatoes, bags of oats for porridge, sausages, mince, cheese, lentils. Stews.

Go shopping when the final reductions are made 8pm and get bread in to freeze, it gets reduced to 9p where I am. Also look for cheap reduced veg that can be frozen.
Half your own milk intake (not your toddler)
Cheese can be made into cheese on toast,or pizza style on toast with a small bit of tomatoe purée (35p) and a rub of garlic.
Pasta made with tomato purée, bit of garlic, sprinkling of cheese and frozen peas.
Jacket potatoes & cheapest beans
Veggie frittata, basically eggs, and any grated veg - onion, carrots, courgette, potato.
Sorry cAnt be more help. Can you get help from a food bank?

Give us a list of exactly what you have in the house.

You can certainly live off that amount for three weeks. It might not be haute cuisine but you'll survive.

Have you got plenty of electric/gas? Being able to cook makes a huge difference. Microwave? And are you near a lidl?

It should be possible, you will just need to be thrifty!

pints a week in tea seems like a lot - could you cut back or switch to UHT milk?

You can make a very nice cheap pasta sauce with tinned tomatoes and a bit of onion and some frozen veg. You can also make supremely cheap veggie soups.

If you avoid meat and fish you will save a lot. Also try to avoid processed frozen stuff like chips (baked potatoes would be much cheaper).

Go off brand for cheese and other dairy.

Frozen fruit will be fine for your toddler if fresh is too pricey, but in any case go for cheap things like apples. If you want berries buy them frozen and just defrost in the fridge ahead of time.

Bread is much cheaper to make than buy but if that's too much faff or you don't know how just buy a non-branded loaf and freeze it to avoid waste.

Sweet potatoes and black beans (or any beans) make excellent and cheap veggie burgers.

You can get 6 mixed weight eggs for 70p in Sainsbury's (probably similar prices in other supermarkets) and that would do omelette and scrambled eggs.

If you are struggling there is no shame in going to a food bank - they understand how hard life is for working parents and will hell you out with no judgment.

Hope you're ok OP XXX

Well, I would suggest the food bank too. You're going to need nappies and things too so make sure you mention that.
I would make that my priority and once you have the stuff you can see what you might need to supplement it.
Hope you're OK

Tbf a pint a day, or two full baby bottles, one on the mornig and one at night so not quite 8 pints but i still need to buy 8 pints. Is that too much do you think?

Mine had a full bottle morning and night, not sure it was 8pts though. Milk has s lot vitamins & minerals so probably the best thing you can give them at the moment on your budget.

I was going to say the end of day sales too. Fruit and veg should be possible as apples in particular aren't expensive. Carrots are 9p each I think.

The economy tins of beans, veg and fruit as just as good as the other supermarket ones - often the only difference is you need to use a tin opener.

Try to put a splash of milk in your tea rather than what you've been having . I use long life milk and find it ok.

I don't have many good tips but so sorry this is happening. I agree 're food bank if you can.

I would look at jack Munroes blog ‘cooking in a bootstrap’ they have some great ideas x

Buy in lots of smart price type brand pasta, tinned veg, cereal, beans, eggs, noodles, yoghurts, a few snacks - cheap crisps etc and you should be fine

It won't be the most exciting 3 weeks of your life but you can survive

I agree don't get rid of milk foe the toddler though. If you buy cereal the own brand versions from most supermarkets have added vits and iron but the lidl ones don't so I wouldn't go for them. Otherwise I do think Lidl are good.

I have electric and gas, its on a direct debit not a pre payment which is good so i can cook and we can be warm 🙂

Cant really get to the supermarket at 8pm unfortunately. But i do live very near an aldi!

If i need a food bank refferal (will see how we are getting on first) how do i get one?

Baked potatoes (£1 for four roughly) cheap brand baked beans 0.35p

Pasta 0.65 p a pack or less lasts 3 days
Plain brand jar of Pasta sauce 0.50

And then look in reduced sections.

For lunch you can get a pack of instant noodles for 0.20p

Buy long life milk 0.52p per litre

It is doable if you don't have to do anything 'special' and don't mind eating the same things several times in a week.

What exactly do you have in stock? List everything incl salt and pepper and if you are going to need teabags!
Where do you usually shop?
Do you want to bulk buy up front for the 3 weeks (ie have freezer/cold storage) or would you rather buy each week?

Dunno about the 8 pints, it's only one pint a day really. Don't cut the milk for the little one. Sounded a lot at first.

I'd buy eggs, cheese, veg, lentils, pasta, tinned Tom's, beans, fruit, spuds.

No idea about food banks.

I would also recommend Jack Monroe's blog, particularly the older posts where she made her name in a very similar situation to you.

Forget about eating meat for the next three weeks - you'll get a lot more bang for your buck from veggie food.

Do you have any Indian shops near you? You can usually buy big sacks of lentils really cheap there for bulking out soups and sauces and adding protein

I was going to say Munro's 9p burgers too.

Monroe. Apologies

Citizens advice for food bank voucher

Do you have a Waitrose near you. They really do good reduced prices around 6 pm DH pops in once a week and buys bread . It's reduced to silly prices. I've had sandwiches from there that would cost more to make your own

If you have a Morrisons near you they do really cheap bags of “wonky” veg and fruit. There’s a lot in there and they’re perfectly useable. So a good way to get fresh food. Switch to vegetarian protein - much cheaper than meat. Aldi do great cheap cheese. Iceland are also good for big quantities of frozen food at lower prices, often bigger sizes than other supermarkets. Buy big bags of pasta and rice. Could you get part baked baguettes? Not expensive, last for ages as you just cook when you want bread. Home bargains and similar great for tinned food and treats, you can get sweets for as low as 29p if you feel like you need sugar (obviously not a a priority but worth a look if something you like)